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"But after lunch," Lancaeriel smiled, holding her hand out for the letter.

Earendil chuckled and passed it over. "You're sure there's enough food for us?"

"More than enough," Arwen grinned. "Even with Amalirahc's appetite. You should come down here more often, we eat here most days now. Bring Miyuki and Andarien, Amalirahc would love it."

"He misses playing with Miyuki," Leyenda said softly. "He's meeting people here, too, but I know it's not the same for him."

All in all, it was a very pleasant and relaxing lunch, and afterwards Lancaeriel brought Lin and Earendil back to the room at the inn where she, Wren and Aranxia were staying.

"It will be safe," Lancaeriel assured them as she opened the door to the room and let Lin and Earendil head inside first. "Aranxia never comes back until dinner, at the earliest, and often not until nightfall. If even then."

She smiled softly, and her pale lavender eyes were sparkling with amusement.

"How very true," Lancaeriel laughed. "But I do have to admit, she does spend the day hard at work, illustrating those stories for Aennan, so really she does only get to spend the evenings with him. She used to work at the library, but I understand the librarian did not like that because her presence was a distraction for Aennan."

"Poor guy," Earendil chuckled. "Amanya really does keep on top of his work."

Lancaeriel followed the two of them into the room and closed the door. "I'm sure Wren will be gone for the afternoon," she commented as she motioned for Lin and Earendil to make themselves comfortable on one of the three beds. "So we should be able to do this without interruption."

Earendil made himself comfortable next to Lin.

"There are a few different ways we could do this," Lancaeriel explained, "but I believe that the best way for all of us to be able to communicate would be by use of the mirror. A larger surface - especially such a reflective surface - makes the magic work smoother, clearer."

She looked at Earendil. "I assume they also have a mirror in their bedchamber," she said, though it was clearly a question.

Earendil nodded. "Of course."

"Good." Lancaeriel stood in front of the tall mirror that was fastened to the wall behind the door and reached out to place one hand against it. There was a slight ripple of light over the mirror's surface, and the room's reflection vanished, replaced with the image of another bedchamber, much larger and very luxurious. There was no one in the room, and all was still; then, only seconds later, a door in the far wall opened and Tinuviel entered the room. She was dressed, but her hair was wet, and she moved towards the mirror without noticing anything different. It was not until she reached for her hairbrush that she looked into her own mirror and saw that she was not seeing her own reflection there.

"What in Arda ..." she murmured to herself in wonder, reaching forward and touching the glass.

Lancaeriel laughed. "Good afternoon, Princess. I apologize for the intrusion, but we needed to speak with you."

Tinuviel looked absolutely flummoxed. "But you ... you're ... how is this possible?"

"Magic," Earendil replied from his spot next to Lin. "How else?"

"I beg to differ," Tinuviel laughed. "Never before have I come out of my morning bath to find my mirror a means of communication with people halfway across the world."

Her expression turned anxious. "Has something happened to Aranxia? Is she all right?"

"She's fine," Earendil assured his sister quickly. "Though admittedly, we are here to talk to you about her."

Tinuviel nodded and picked up her hairbrush. "What is it?" she asked as she began to brush her hair.

Lancaeriel smiled warmly at the princess. "She's met someone," she told her.

Tinuviel arched one eyebrow. "Oh? Met someone?" she repeated, her tone clearly indicating that she wanted to know more - much more.

Tinuviel of course peppered Lin's explanation with all kinds of questions, and when Lin told her of Aranxia's plans to get married, her only reaction was a sharp intake of breath and a slight narrowing of her eyes.

"Before you jump to any conclusions," Lancaeriel jumped in quickly, "you should be aware that Aennan had been insisting on waiting to meet you and your husband before even asking Aranxia to marry him, but it was she who did not want to wait."

Tinuviel rubbed her brow as if warding off a headache, though she was smiling ruefully. She opened her mouth to speak, but she was interrupted by a knock at her bedchamber door. She turned away from the mirror to look at it and called out, "Come in."

The door opened and Regan entered slowly, her face etched with concern. "Mother, are you all right?" she asked. "We missed you at breakfast." She blinked when she got a good look at her mother. "You're not even fully dressed!"

Tinuviel sighed and motioned for her daughter to join her at the mirror. "Come over here. Your sister is getting married and it seems we need to figure out a way to get there before the wedding takes place in ..." She looked back at her mirror. "When?"

Regan was absolutely astonished when she looked over her mother's shoulder into the mirror and saw the others there. "Wow ..."

"Probably about five weeks," Lancaeriel answered Tinuviel's question. "But as to how you can come here, that is the easy part. I can bring you here by magic, the same way we are speaking now. Or ... similarly."

"He gave us a letter to deliver to you," Earendil offered, picking up the letter from where Lancaeriel had put it down and holding it up to show his sister. "Shall we read it to you?"

"No," Tinuviel said quickly, her tone firm. "What I would like you to do is have him contact us in the same manner as you are doing right now."

"What's his name?" Regan said eagerly, leaning over her mother's shoulder to see better into the mirror.

"Not now," Tinuviel frowned, nudging her daughter aside and turning her attention back to the others. "Sometime when Aranel is also here. This evening, perhaps."

"What's he like?" Regan asked, this time staying behind her mother.

"It sounds like we're on different times," Earendil pointed out. "We need to say exactly how many hours from now."

"You said there are all kinds of different races there," Regan tried again, grinning. "What race is he? I bet he's not a dark elf!"

"Regan!" Tinuviel said sternly, glaring up at her daughter. "Not right now, all right? Later!" She turned back to the others again. "What time is it for you right now?"

"Midafternoon," Earendil replied. "And it sounds like midmorning for you."

"Early," Tinuviel corrected him. "The sun is barely up."

"Evening won't work," Lancaeriel mused. "We could never get Aennan away from Aranxia. And at your evening, it will be the middle of the night. What about this same time tomorrow? Aranxia will think that Aennan is at work, you can give your husband a bit of time to prepare ..."